Speedpaint 23 - Komodo Dragon

Finding a method for quickly painting reptilian scales proved difficult, so this is yesterday and today's speed paint. I did the background and basic body structure on the Komodo dragon yesterday, and then some retouching and scale texture today. I believe in total it took about an hour and a half. I'm not quite satisfied with the results, but that's not the point of these exercises. It's to expose myself to new challenges.

I think I'm in a rut with the greens and browns. I'll try to work some different colors into the next one.

Gator Studies

When planning out a new illustration, I find that the best place to start is to do some studies of the subjects in your picture. My next picture, actually a series of pictures, is about a boy and his pet gator. So I dug through my photo archive and pulled up a bunch of photos I've taken over the years of full size and baby alligators and did some sketching.

Here's the result:
It occurred to me as I was sketching that I'm no stranger to drawing alligators. The design of the Handra character in my Peach Fuzz books is partially inspired by the shape of an alligator's face. Here's what the Handra look like (sorry, this is the only picture of the Handra I have that's easy to access): You see? Little gator snouts!


I also did some general figure sketches just to keep my people drawing skills up. (Hopefully no one's bothered by some mild nudity here). Here's an excerpt from the exercise:

Dragon Rider - Step by Step Colors

Step-by-step coloring of Dragon Rider.

Larger version on Deviantart here.

I figured I'd share since I already had the files tracking my entire progress through the picture. It goes from left to right. Step 2 and 4 are discarded color ideas.

Pencil + Coloring in Photoshop CS3.

Dragon Rider - Complete

Here's the finished piece for Dragon Rider.


I'm currently interested in exploring unusual picture sizes. I usually think in terms of prints for the final output, which means many of my pictures are formatted with a standard letter 8.5"x11" or tabloid 11"x17" size in mind. In contrast, this one is tall, about 8"x14".

Hope you guys dig! I have more storybook type pictures like this planned and in various stages of development, so stay tuned for more. :)

Dragon Rider WIP 2

Here's my current progress on the dragon rider illustration. Colors are still fairly rough. First I blocked in all my basic colors, then I started polishing and adding texture to individual sections. The wall, lamp, coffee table, and chair are done. I plan on tackling the wood floor next.

Dragon Rider WIP 1

New picture for the children's illustration portfolio I'm working on. My idea was to depict a little girl curled up in a chair, so engrossed in reading her book that she imagines herself as the heroine of the tale.

Every picture I do starts with a thumbnail sketch, no larger than a couple inches tall. This allows me to jot down all the important details of an idea quickly, and "feel out" a composition without spending too much time on it. This way, I can easily try multiple takes if something's not working.

In this case, I was satisfied with the original thumbnail, and move straight onto the rough sketch, a full-sized drawing based off the thumbnail. Sometimes I will work the rough sketch to completion, but in this case it was too messy, so I transferred the drawing onto another sheet of paper to do my final pass (and made a couple tweaks to the composition while I was at it).

This is where I currently am: the lines are clean and ready for colors!